EWD - Journal

Note! The following shows one way of collecting visitor statistics, but applies for WordPress installations only. If you are looking to get site statistics for any other CMS or blogging platform please see their respective lists of available plugins or try AWStats (which is a very good server log analyser tool).

WP Slimstat for WordPress

There’s dozens of statistic plugins available for WordPress already, but I find WP Slimstat to be one of the best. However, since the release of WordPress 2.3 the plugin no longer recorded all hits as the WP table structure was altered. The author of WP-Slimstat still offers the plugin from his website but informs visitors that it’s no longer in development.

Earlier today I found the solution to the problem in one of the forum threads. Having waited for a decent solution for some time I decided to implement the necessary code changes but also keep it backwards compatible. The updated copy of the main file (wp-slimstat.php), including the new WP 2.5 colour scheme, can be downloaded below:

[download#1#size]

Before you continue I recommend backing up your database. This way you can always roll back in case something goes terribly wrong. I’ve just completed the update myself without any issues so I hope and think there shouldn’t be any surprises.

If this didn’t scare you away you can now proceed with the actual update. All you need to do is replace the old copy of wp-slimstat.php with the new one included in the zip, using your favourite FTP program (e.g. FileZilla).

Update the IP to Country Database

The plugin also shows you where your visitors are coming from by comparing the IP against the “IP to Country database” made available by webhosting.info. The original is now a bit old (March 2006) so I’ve made an SQL dump that contains the latest list (10th March 2008):

[download#2#size]

You can update your IP to Country database table as follows:

Log on to phpMyAdmin (or any other tool you use to maintain your database) and empty the old table (normally wp_slim_countries)

Unzip and upload the file you just downloaded (wp_slim_countries.sql) using the import feature

If you experience difficulties uploading the file (it is quite large -> 2.56MB) you can try bypassing this by opening the file in WordPad (not NotePad), copy all the text (CTRL+A and then CTRL+C) then paste (CTRL+V) and run it as an SQL query in phpMyAdmin.

Feel free to let me know if you experience any problems or have a comment on this unofficial WP Slimstat release.

Just a few hours ago I discovered that the first release candidate for WordPress 2.5 is out. As with any other major upgrade I just couldn’t let it pass and as you read this you are also reading a blog/website running on WordPress 2.5.

In case you wonder most the plugins I’ve used are still working. Below is a list of all plugins used on this site, and besides one they’re all compatible with the new release. Strangely enough it’s the Popularity Contest plugin by Alex King that doesn’t seam to work. I’ve left a comment announcing this, and with any luck (and if he’s not to busy) an update will be available shortly.

I must admit I haven’t been able to run the testing for more than an hour, so there might be a few incompatibilities still not discovered. Feel free to share your findings, and also let me know how you experience the speed and overall “look n’ feel” of the site.

As a final side note I must give credit to the outstanding WordPress developers for providing yet another great update. The admin panel, long left in the shade (design wise), is now looking extremely nice and works great. I’ve already gotten used to the new layout and won’t miss the previous one bit. Thank you!

Over the last year we have had more and more clients and projects. Even with a small marketing budget we have been very successful. In fact we have had so much work going that this Journal has been left more or less dead as we have been to busy keeping you up to date.

Parts of the work can be seen in our portfolio, but there’s also a lot more not shown. Those are either Intranet solutions, member only areas or print material. The latter is quite a challenge as this is an area of expertise we don’t exercise that much. But that makes it even more fun.

So what does the future bring?

We are already planning 2-3 new websites and are currently working on the details with the respective clients. All the clients already have a website but feel they would benefit from an update. Especially on the Costa del Sol many companies feel the impact of increased competition and a dropping demand. Naturally this generates the need to further push their marketing budget and change strategies. The Internet is one of this areas left unexploited, and is where I come in.

Besides creating web solutions EWD is also planning to release several new plugins and themes for WordPress. Being our CMS of choice these days it feels only natural to share some code with the users. Among the planned releases are our Comic strip add-on, the Accordion category/date menus and also the theme currently running this website.

Can I contribute?

We are glad you asked! Off course you can! By getting involved either by contributing articles about web development and design, or by interacting through commenting you are helping both this site and future development. We hope to make your acquaintance any day soon.